A Team You Trust, By Your Side Every Step of the Way

At Gracious Smiles, we understand the thought of oral surgery can make even the bravest patients a little queasy. Any type of surgery is nerve-racking, but there’s something about the intimate nature of the mouth that makes oral surgery even more difficult to swallow. We understand, and we promise to take the very best possible care of you every step of the way. Oral surgery is always a last resort—and of course, we will exhaust all other potential treatment options first. But sometimes oral surgery is in your best interest, and you’ll want a skilled and caring team on your side. When you’re in our care, we want you to feel like you have friends and family there to support you, so we do everything we can to ensure your comfort throughout the process. Now, let’s get you healthy and smiling again, shall we?

The first step is the hardest. Schedule a consultation today!

When Natural Teeth Work Against You

It’s always our goal to preserve your natural healthy teeth for as long as possible, and we will do everything we can to save them from disease, decay, and the need for extraction. But if you have a tooth that’s damaged past the point of repair or restoration that puts the rest of your mouth at risk, an extraction may be in your best interest.

Maybe you have a badly-decayed tooth that’s resulted in an infection deep inside. Maybe you broke a tooth that’s beyond restoring with a crown. Maybe your teeth are too crowded and we need to make space for your alignment and bite to work in harmony. Maybe gum disease has left your tooth unable to support itself. Whatever the reason, we can provide routine extractions from the comfort of your dental home.

What’s the Process Like?

We know extractions may sound scary, but today they’re actually fairly routine, as much as we try and avoid them as much as possible. We can use either a local or general anesthetic, depending on your individual needs and preferences to ensure your comfort so you won’t feel a thing. We will prescribe pain medications and give you detailed post-op instructions to follow to ensure your quickest and most comfortable recovery. See? That wasn’t so bad!

Tooth Replacement Options

Don’t worry—you don’t have to go toothless. Following your extraction, we would be happy to discuss your best tooth replacement options for your unique situation.

Bone Loss Doesn’t Have to Be Permanent

Losing your natural teeth is traumatic enough without the consequences of a shrinking jawbone to go along with it. Not only does bone loss make it difficult to keep restorations fitting as they should, but sufficient bone density is required to place dental implants. Not to mention jawbone deterioration can cause a domino effect of other complications, including alignment and bite changes, TMJ, headaches, and potential changes in the look of your facial structure.

Thankfully, Dr. April Davis has the advanced training and technology to provide bone grafting from the comfort of your dental home. Most other general dentists would have to send you to a specialist for this procedure, but we are happy to say we can help rebuild your jawbone right here at Gracious Smiles Aesthetic General Dentistry.

Why Does Bone Loss Happen?

Your jawbone depends on your tooth roots to keep it stimulated and healthy. When teeth go missing over time, the lack of stimulation causes the bone to resorb and deteriorate. Gum disease can also cause gum tissue and bone loss, and traditional dentures that rest on top of the gums actually accelerate bone loss. That’s why we almost always recommend dental implants for replacing missing teeth—they’re the only way to stimulate the jawbone where teeth have gone missing.

How to Prevent Bone Loss

If you do lose teeth, replace them with dental implants as soon as possible

Don’t wait too long to consider implants, as the longer a tooth is missing the more likely the bone will shrink, making implant placement difficult without the additional cost of replacing that bone; if you need help affording implants, there are plenty of financing options available.

We would love to be the team to help you. Give us a call today!

Creating a Comfortable Home for Dental Restorations

When we restore smiles, we need to make sure the mouth is going to provide a comfortable home environment for the restoration to fit and function its best. If you’re considering dentures, we need a solid foundation to build. Without a solid foundation, dentures may be uncomfortable and hardly functional, needing to be replaced shortly thereafter.

That’s why we’re happy to provide pre-prosthetic surgery from the comfort of your dental home. Most times, there’s no need to go see a separate specialist, we can provide this procedure safely and comfortably right here in our office.

What is Pre-Prosthetic Surgery?

Pre-prosthetic surgery involves restoring oral function and facial form in preparation for dental prosthetics. This includes surgical modification of the jawbone and supporting structures by redesigning and smoothing bony edges to create the ideal environment to house better-fitting and functioning dentures.

Benefits of Pre-Prosthetic Surgery

Complete denture treatment from the comfort of your dental home

Creates the ideal environment for the best denture results

Minimizes ill-fitting dentures & frequent relines

Concerned about the cost of treatment?

We’re happy to offer flexible financing options.

We know affordability is one of the biggest barriers standing in the way of people getting the dental care they need. We understand—that’s why we’re happy to accept most major insurance providers and offer an in-house membership plan as well as flexible financing options to help you fit the treatment you need into your budget. Contact your greater Toledo dentist, Dr. April Davis, at Gracious Smiles today to get started toward better health and a better life.